Mr. Speaker, not only is the solicitor general guilty of conflict of interest in lobbying on behalf of his brother, he is also guilty of breaching one of the most fundamental responsibilities of a minister of the crown, to act in the best interest of all Canadians regardless of what part of the country they come from.

Canadians have lost confidence in the solicitor general. Surely the Prime Minister cannot condone that kind of behaviour. Will the Prime Minister demand the solicitor general's resignation today?

John ManleyDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians are able to make their own judgments on this.

That party claims that passing on an application for a public institution, not just Holland College but Sheridan College and the University of Moncton together, is somehow offensive whereas going to court to try to hide the names of contributors to election campaigns is okay.

I think the Canadian people are quite capable of smelling what is going on over there, and it is not nice.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants the public to ignore the scandals that are undermining his government. But reality is catching up with him, because Gosselin Relations Publiques, a branch of Groupaction, was imposed upon the organizers of the Francophonie games by the federal government and pocketed $335,000 for the year 2001-2002. This was all totally pointless because it did nothing to help the organizing committee find partners.

Is the Deputy Prime Minister going to keep on denying the need for a public inquiry?

Mr. Speaker, the cultural nature of that particular initiative, the Francophonie games, fit well within the parameters of sponsorship activities. I have been advised that all appropriate administrative processes with respect to that matter were fully respected.

Mr. Speaker, what does not fit is the fact that it was money for nothing. According to Le Droit , it would appear that other events in this region, such as Winterlude and the Tulip Festival, were victims of the same manoeuvre.

Is the Deputy Prime Minister going to finally admit that nothing but a public inquiry is going to cast light on the way the Liberal network operates?

Mr. Speaker, the issue that the hon. gentleman is raising is essentially the question of what value was received for the money invested. Surely it is the Auditor General of Canada who is in the best position to answer that question, and she is doing a government wide inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, the solicitor general claimed that he was simply the messenger for Holland College. Now we learn that he was also the school bully pressing Lucie McClung to cave in and grant the grant to his brother's college.

On May 14 the solicitor general lobbied the correctional service commissioner four months after the college grant application was denied. This is clearly a conflict of interest.

The facts are that he and his political aides used political pressure to assist family members. When will the minister come clean and admit that he broke every rule in the book to help his brother?

John ManleyDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations

Mr. Speaker, as we have said repeatedly in the House on this issue, Holland College is not a private institution. It does not belong to somebody's brother. It is a public institution. It is publicly funded. It made an application in consort with two other public institutions, Sheridan College and the University of Moncton.

To pass on that application to the appropriate agencies was something the minister was perfectly entitled to do.

I think what we are seeing here is a failure on the part of the Alliance Party to understand just how good things can be in the Atlantic provinces and how good Atlantic Canadians are at the things they do.

Canadians provide the solicitor general resources to serve as their solicitor general. He represents Canada. No one pays him to be a political minister for Prince Edward Island, yet he hides behind this phantom title.

He understood that by raising the issue of Holland College with the RCMP commissioner and the commissioner of correctional service he was in a conflict of interest, and yet he proceeded to do so.

Is it not time that the Prime Minister expels the count of Cardigan from P.E.I., and when will he do so?

John ManleyDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations

Mr. Speaker, I have late breaking news for the hon. member. Premier Binns is not a Liberal and he came out publicly to support Holland College and the minister in the efforts he made on behalf of a public institution in that province, one for which the province and region is proud.

When will members on that side start being transparent and open? They run down Atlantic Canadians. They say that our problem with the United States is that we are not cozy enough. Yet they will not disclose who the contributors are to their leadership candidates. They go to court to try to hide the money that is being spent in election campaigns. That is wrong.

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the co-chair of the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages.

The media are alluding to the possibility that Radio-Canada officials may appear before the committee to explain the decision not to broadcast the Montreal Canadiens' hockey games during La Soirée du hockey , as has been the case for 50 years already.

Can the co-chair confirm that Radio-Canada officials will soon appear before the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages?

Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that, as part of its proceedings on part 7 of the Official Languages Act, the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages will hear officials from Société Radio-Canada on Tuesday, June 4, at 3.30 p.m., in the room adjacent to this chamber, namely room 253-D.

Mr. Speaker, the member states of the European Union are ratifying the Kyoto protocol today, including G-8 members France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. That means that 70 countries, including 18 developed countries, will have ratified Kyoto. In addition, Japan, Russia and New Zealand are soon to follow.

Canada has long since given up any chance of taking a leadership role on the international stage on this issue but it is not too late to do the right thing. Will the Minister of the Environment today take the opportunity to join all these other countries and commit to ratifying Kyoto once and for all?

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada intends to continue with the plan that was laid out back in 1997, which is of course to consult fully with Canadians, including the provinces and territories, to make sure we have a plan in place for ratification of Kyoto which does not disadvantage any particular region of the country and then to make up our minds on the ratification issue.

I appreciate the hon. member's support for ratification but I think it is appropriate that we continue with the process of consultation and that we come to a decision for Canada which would have the appropriate input from provinces, territories, industries and the general public.